This page answers: how to write the first reply to a new buyer inquiry, by email or through a marketplace, so the buyer wants to keep talking.
How to reply to a new inquiry
Your first reply has one job: get a second email back. That comes from knowing what kind of inquiry you are holding, answering what the buyer actually asked, and asking two or three questions they can answer in a line. There is a sample reply further down you can adapt.
Spend one minute sorting the inquiry
"Please send your best price" can come from a project buyer with a deadline or from a competitor checking your numbers. Look at three things before you write: how specific it is (model, quantity, destination, certification), who sent it (email domain, company website, marketplace profile), and whether it was written to you or blasted to fifty suppliers.
| Type | What it looks like | How to answer first |
|---|---|---|
| Clear need | Gives a model or spec, quantity and country; sometimes certification and timing | Same day. Give a price or a tight range and a lead time. Ask only for the one or two things missing. |
| Comparison or RFQ | Enough detail to quote, clearly sent to several suppliers at once | Fast and easy to compare. State the Incoterm, currency, MOQ and validity. A vague price is hard to drop into a comparison sheet, so it gets skipped. |
| Mass request | "Dear Supplier", asks for a price list and catalog, no product named | Keep it short. Offer two or three likely models with ranges and ask one question that needs a real answer, such as where the product will be used. |
| Competitor or research | Detailed questions about cost, factory location and every model's price; nothing about themselves | Polite and brief. No full price list. Ask about their market and end use and see if they answer. |
| Suspicious | See the next section | Do not click or open anything until you have checked. |
On a marketplace, glance at the buyer profile too: how long they have been registered, their country, their past activity. Treat it as a hint, not proof either way.
Red flags: check before you reply
- A link to "view the inquiry" or "download the order" that asks you to sign in. Real inquiries put the request in the message. A login page you did not expect is usually phishing.
- Attachments you would not expect from a stranger: archives, documents that ask you to enable macros, files called "PO" or "Order list" from someone you have never dealt with. Ask them to write the requirement in the email body.
- Money before business. Registration fees, certification fees, "vendor approval" fees, contract notary fees, or a nominated inspection agent you must pay first.
- A large order and a lot of pressure. No questions about quality, no haggling, but they want your bank details now, or want you to fly out and sign this week.
- An identity that does not fit. A large company writing from a free webmail address, a domain one letter off from the real website, or a site that is brand new and looks copied.
Checking is mostly common sense. Search the company name, find its real website, and compare the domain with the sender's. If the inquiry came through a marketplace, read the buyer profile. Then reply with one question only a real buyer can answer, like what spec they use today or who they sell to. Real buyers tend to answer it. Scammers tend to step around it and push harder.
If you sell anything with export controls or ship to sanctioned regions, screen the buyer against the restricted-party lists your country publishes before you quote. Your national export agency or trade association can point you to the right list.
How fast, and what about time zones
Speed beats completeness, but "Received, will revert" tells the buyer nothing. Send a partial answer instead: what you can say now (yes we make it, yes it has that certification, roughly this lead time), and exactly when the rest will arrive.
Give that time in the buyer's time zone. "Tomorrow" means little when you are eight hours apart. "By Thursday 10:00 your time" tells them when to look, and gives you a deadline.
- Check new inquiries at the end of your day and first thing in the morning. Clear-need inquiries get a partial answer even late at night.
- Schedule the full quote to land an hour or two after the buyer starts work, not at 3 a.m. under a pile of unread mail.
- If the inquiry came through a marketplace, reply there first. Platforms track response times, and pulling a stranger off-platform in your first message makes many buyers hesitate.
Five things the first reply needs
- One line of thanks. Skip the paragraph about your company's history. The buyer wants to know if you can supply.
- Answers to their questions, first. Asked for a price? Give one, or a range, with the conditions that drive it: quantity, Incoterm, currency. Asked about a certification? Say yes or no and attach that one certificate. Asked about lead time? Give days.
- Two or three questions, no more. Pick the ones that change the price: quantity (offer two tiers if none was given), destination port or Incoterm, required standards, and the spec details that matter for your product. Number them so the buyer can reply line by line.
- One concrete next step. "I'll send the formal quotation within one working day of your reply." You can add one alternative, like a sample or a short product video. One main step, not a menu.
- A full signature. Name, company, phone or messaging app, website. Keep the buyer's subject line and add the model name so your email is easy to find later.
Reply in the buyer's language when you can. If you use a translation tool, check every model number, figure, price and unit before sending. Those are the parts that get mangled.
Why not just send the whole catalog and price list?
- The answer gets buried. They asked about one item. A 200-page PDF makes them hunt for it, and most will not.
- Prices lose their conditions. A list price with no quantity, Incoterm or validity date will need to change later, and that looks like you moved the goalposts.
- You lose control of it. It can end up with a competitor or another supplier who undercuts you line by line.
- Big attachments get blocked. Many company mail servers filter large or unusual files. Your reply may never arrive.
- The conversation ends. You gave everything and asked nothing, so there is no reason to write back.
If the buyer clearly asks for a catalog, send the one range that matches their need, and ask which items they want priced. For writing the full quote itself, see how to write a quotation email.
Sample reply
This is a sample with a made-up situation: a buyer in Poland asks about 600x600 LED panel lights, 2,000 pcs, and wants the price, CE status and lead time. They did not say which driver they need or how they want it shipped. Replace everything in brackets with your own details. Do not copy the numbers.
Subject: Re: Inquiry – LED panel light 600x600, 2,000 pcs
Hi [Name],
Thank you for your inquiry about our 600x600 LED panel light.
To your questions:
- CE: yes, the 40W model is CE certified. The certificate is attached.
- Price: for 2,000 pcs, FOB [port], about USD [x.xx]–[y.yy] per piece, depending on the driver (see question 1).
- Lead time: [25–30] days after deposit.
To give you an exact quotation, could you confirm:
1. Driver: standard, flicker-free, or dimmable (DALI / 0-10V)?
2. Delivery: FOB [port], or CIF Gdansk?
3. Is this for one project, or a product you will stock?
I will send the formal quotation within one working day after your reply. If it helps, I can also send a short video of the panel running, or arrange a sample.
Best regards,
[Your name]
[Company] | [Phone / WhatsApp] | [Website]
Why it works:
- The buyer asked three things, and the reply answers all three before anything else.
- The price is a range with the reason it is a range, so the buyer knows how to narrow it.
- Every question affects the price, and each is numbered.
- Only the requested certificate is attached. No catalog.
- The next step has a time on it. The sample and video are offers, not the main point.
Common mistakes
- Three paragraphs about your company before the price they asked for.
- Asking again for the quantity or destination they already gave you.
- Seven or eight questions at once. The buyer answers none of them.
- A price with no Incoterm, currency, MOQ or validity date.
- A template reply with the wrong product name, or the wrong person's name.
- Five attachments, or one called "New folder (2).zip".
- Machine translation sent unchecked, with a changed model number or price.
- No follow-up date. The reply goes out and the inquiry is forgotten.
After you reply, write down five things
Once inquiries pile up, the usual failure is forgetting what you quoted to whom last week. After each first reply, take a minute to note:
- Who the buyer is and where the inquiry came from (email, marketplace, trade show).
- Product, spec, quantity, destination.
- What you gave: price or range, terms, validity, attachments.
- What you asked, and which questions are still open.
- The date of your next follow-up. If three or four days pass in silence, a short nudge is fair.
A spreadsheet, a notebook or a CRM all work, as long as you do it every time. If they reply, send the full quote. If they go quiet, see when a buyer goes quiet.
This is the part RelaySolo is built for. The translated inbox translates incoming mail for you and sends your reply in the buyer's language, and before sending checks that numbers, model names and prices match the original; if they don't, the reply is not sent. Inquiry to quote turns an inquiry into a card (product, quantity, destination, timing) and drafts a quote from your own price list, with a source for every figure and nothing sent until you confirm. Client pages and follow-ups keep what you quoted and remind you when a buyer has not replied. Certificates and catalogs go in your files, and AI answers cite the file and page they came from. The first version works with email.